In the manufacture of electrical connectors various structures have been utilized to retain the contacts in the connector housing during use. Such structures must allow for the insertion of the contact into the connector housing during assembly yet resist forces that tend to pull the contacts out of the housing, for example, when the connector halves are separated. One of the most common retaining structures is a catch formed on the contact that is forced over a raised portion in the housing, the catch then snaps in place behind the raised portion to prevent removal of the contact. Other structures include a lance that is simply forced into a narrow cavity in the housing to provide a friction fit. All of these structures require a latch that will securely lock the catch or lance in place during use of the connector yet is operable to release the catch or lance to permit removal or insertion of contacts. Such structures usually require substantial disassembly of the connector to remove a damaged contact. A typical retaining structure that is known in the industry is disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,973,268 and 4,944,688 which issued Nov. 27, 1990 and Jul. 31, 1990 respectively. The structure disclosed in these patents utilizes a pair of resilient members formed on a latch member that is secured to the connector housing. Each resilient member has mutually opposing projections that engage depressions formed on opposite sides of the contact. As the contact is pushed into the housing cavity during initial assembly, the contact engages the projections causing the resilient members to deflect outwardly. When the contact is fully seated the projections move into the depressions under the urging of the resilient members. A locking member is then inserted further into the housing to block outward deflection of the resilient members so that the projections are firmly locked in position within the depressions. The locking member includes its own retainer means that secures it to the housing so that when the connector is fully assembled the contacts cannot be removed. If a contact must be repaired the connector must be completely disassembled, which is usually quite difficult to do and occasionally, the retainer means for the locking member is damaged in the process.
What is needed is a contact retaining mechanism having a latch that is operable from outside of the connector to unlock the contacts for removal and repair and then to again lock the repaired contacts in position so that the connector can be returned to service. The latch should be easily accessible for manual operation yet protect against inadvertent unlocking.